The Perks Of The Job
by sleepy-emo
Summary: TK hates his crappy job working in a store and can't wait for the day when he can finally get paid to take photographs professionally and leave that god-forsaken hole behind. But there are some perks to his job: 20% discount, super reduced food at the end of the day and his manager Tai's perfect butt to stare at. So it's certainly not all bad. Written for Camp NaNoWriMo April 2015
1. The Delights Of Retail

**So this is what I've been doing with myself the last month - I did the Camp NaNoWriMo writing challenge and wrote this. It's kind of stupid in places but I hope you enjoy it all the same**

University was one of the most amazing and expensive experiences of my life. I'm not kidding there. I went to study in England; one year's worth of fees was close to nine thousand English pounds. Times that by three years plus living, food and the occasional flight back home (if I had any money left at all) then add on the exchange rate and we're looking something close to a couple of million Yen.

But like I said it was also the most amazing experience of my life. I met some great people, discovered that girls really aren't my thing (which I think I'd always kind of known) and have some amazing memories. I also left with a First Class degree in photography, meaning that if I applied for a technical photography job then I would, most likely, be the most qualified candidate for the job.

Unfortunately as photography is such a fickle and difficult line of work to get into or make any money out of and I am close to five million Yen in debt (while also still spending money as I'm no longer living at home) I've had to take the first job I could get. Is this job photography children in a shopping mall? Photographing wildlife for minimum wage for a magazine that nobody reads? Teaching photography at the local college? Nope, none of those.

The first job that I was able to get after graduating from University with the highest degree I could have gained is working in a supermarket round the corner from the flat I am renting with a friend of mine. This is not quite what I had in mind after spending all that money but it's currently the best I can do so it will have to do. That is at least until I can find something that I actually want to do…

"So you've got yourself a log in for the tills and you know how to use them right?" Mimi asked.

"Mostly." I replied. Mimi was the one who had been charged with making sure that I knew what I was doing and (in her words) 'looking after me' on my first day, meaning that I was regarded as little more than her shadow. She was nice though; she was quite funny, if a little dapsy, and she seemed as if her heart was in the right place.

"Great," she said. "when it get a bit less hectic we'll let you loose on one."

"You sure that's a good idea?" I asked grinned. She laughed.

"You can't be any worse than some people." she replied rolling her eyes. I laughed. Now that sounded like a story. I wanted to ask but thought I probably shouldn't (although I was pretty sure that Mimi would tell me anyway).

"Yeah," I said, moving the conversation on. "tills are no problem. What else is there?" Mimi thought for a moment before she began counting things off on her fingers.

"Well there's date checking things," she told me. "reducing stuff and stocking shelves. Stocking shelves is pretty self explanatory…"

"You put the thing on the shelf behind the label?" I asked.

"Pretty much," she grinned. "and date checking is also pretty self explanatory. Reducing stuff is a pain because the machines don't work properly and you'll have to change about four times before you find one that actually works."

"Doesn't that just make it take ten times longer?" I asked.

"Yes," she replied. "but the longer you look like you're doing something the less time you have to spend actually doing anything else."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"This is a skill you will pick up over time," she told me. "the art of making it look like you're doing something but not actually doing anything at all. I have developed this skill over the last couple of years and I'm pretty good at it now."

"Mimi stop telling the Newbies how to not do any work," a deep voice said from behind us. "I actually need staff who do things!"

"I do things." Mimi shot back turning to face the person who had spoken to us. I turned as well and found myself staring at the most stunning guy I had ever seen. Gorgeous deep brown eyes, a mess of brown hair that I was already fantasising about running my fingers through and he even looked good in the stupid uniform.

"Not quickly." Mr Gorgeous replied.

"I've worked here too long to care." Mimi replied smiling at him. "You've got Newbies to care."

"Why do I let you loose with them?" he asked before turning to me. "Please ignore everything she says to you that isn't relevant to actually doing the job." Mimi laughed and poked him in the chest.

"And you stop being such a hard arse." she said. He rolled his eyes before looking at me.

"Are you going to introduce me or am I going to have to resort to looking at him name badge?" he asked her.

"I'll introduce you," she said. "I haven't gotten around to giving him a name badge yet." He sighed.

"Efficient as ever."

"Hire someone who gives a shit." she stated. "TK this is Tai; he is our Supervisor and a grumpy bastard. Tai this is Takeru Ishida but he prefers 'TK'." At that moment I was hit by three thoughts at once. Firstly being oh my god how is our Supervisor only, like, five years older than me. Secondly oh my god I can't believe she talks to our Supervisor like that and thirdly oh my god why is our Supervisor so hot! I won't be able to get any work done!

"Ishida…" Tai said studying me. "I recognise that name."

"Um…" I stood and stared at him, unable to come up with anything more eloquent than that. Suddenly he clicked his fingers as the penny dropped.

"I know where I know you from: you're Matt Ishida's gawky little brother." he said.

"Hey! Less of the gawky thanks." I said although I couldn't be too annoyed, he wasn't exactly wrong – I was a bit gawky before I hit my late teens. "How do you know Matt?"

"He was in the same year as me at school," Tai said. "although I remember me and him used to get into a lot of fights before we actually became friends."

"Matt was a bit of a moody bastard when he was younger." I stated. "Although to be honest, he's still a moody bastard now." Tai laughed.

"So what's he up to now?" he asked.

"Getting his band together and recording an EP." I told him.

"Cool. So what made you apply for a job here?" Tai asked.

"I'm incredibly passionate about the world of retail work." I lied.

"I thought you said you were in debt." Mimi chimed in.

"I am also five million Yen in debt." I corrected myself as if she hadn't spoken. Tai whistled.

"Five million? What did you do?"

"I went to University in England." I said.

"That would explain in." Tai said.

"Yeah," Mimi added. "he knew you were lying; no one is really passionate abut the world of retail work." I grinned. I liked her a lot – she was funny.

"Mimi." Tai cautioned, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Hire someone who gives a shit." she said again, grinning at him. He rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Please don't pick up any of her bad habits." he said to me.

"I'll try." I grinned back at him.

"Right I'll leave you two to it," he said to me. "good luck with the rest of the training and Mimi, do some bloody work."

"I promise nothing." she stated. Tai rolled his eyes again. I could tell from the way the two of them interacted that they had been friends and worked together for a long time. He turned to me and gave me a winning smile.

"I'll see you around TK." he said.

"See you around." I replied a little dreamily (dear god I hope Mimi didn't pick up on that). As he turned and left I couldn't help but steal a quick glance at his butt as he walked away. Oh damn! He has a nice butt. I'm not going to be able to get any work done when he's around…


	2. The Romance Of Facebook Stalking

**This is a good end to a double shift day - it's silly and fun and very, very stupid, hope you enjoy**

"So how was your first day at work?" Davis asked me, grinning like the idiot he is, as soon as I closed the front door of our flat.

"It was ok." I replied beginning to take off my jacket. "Tomorrow I'm going to do some actual work and deal with customers." Once Tai had left us Mimi had finished showing me everything else that I was supposed to do with her own twist on the working ethics. She constantly reminded me to make it look as if I was doing something or one of the managers would make sure that I did have a job to do and when they found you one it was never pleasant. She's definitely going to be fun to work with.

"That's good then." Davis said.

"Depends on the customers." I muttered. I took my jacket off and hung it on the back of a chair and as soon as Davis caught sight of the lime green and white pinstriped monstrosity that was my uniform shirt he burst out laughing.

"What the fuck are you wearing?" he chocked through his laughter. I sighed. I knew this was going to happen. It was a hideous uniform but there wasn't much I could do about it.

"My uniform." I replied.

"Oh dude!" he laughed. "You have to wear that every day and be seen by people in it?" I raised an eyebrow at him, pulling the chair out from under the table and sitting down.

"Really?" I asked. "You're going to give me fashion advice on something I am forced to wear while you're sitting in your boxers and dressing gown at half past five on a Thursday afternoon?" He stopped laughing and pouted at me.

"I've had a long, hard day." he stated. Davis (while not as over-qualified for said job as I was) had about as good a job as I did working at a nursery with little kids. Now that doesn't inherently sound like a bad job but most of the kids were little hell-spawned demons who used Davis as a punching bag when their teacher wasn't looking.

"Point taken." I said.

"So what about the people?" Davis asked. "Are they nice or are they dicks?"

"Pretty nice." I replied. "I only really had the chance to speak to a couple of them but they all seem like reasonable human beings. Mimi's nice – she was the one doing all my training – she's really funny."

"And?" Davis pressed.

"And what?" I asked.

"Well there sounded like there was going to be an 'and' on the end of that sentence." he said.

"And nothing really." I shrugged.

"That's a shame." Davis replied. "So no hot guys then?"

"It sounds so weird when you say it." I said shaking my head. Bless him, even though he's as straight as an arrow Davis will try to talk to me about my love life (or lack thereof).

"Come on," he said. "humour me." I smiled, my thoughts turning to Tai.

"Well there was one guy…" I began.

"Oh my god I knew it!" he cried, victoriously. "What's his name? How old is he? Did you speak to him?" I sighed, grinning in spite of myself. As soon as he had asked I knew an interrogation would follow.

"His name is Tai, he's twenty-five and, yes, I did." I told him. Davis grinned at me.

"And?"

"And nothing, he's my Supervisor." I replied.

"Oh what!"

"Yep the only guy I have found attractive for a good six months is my Supervisor meaning I can't do anything about it." I said. When I said it out loud like that it kind of sucked. I couldn't even begin to think about Tai in that way regardless of whether he would be in any way interested in me or not.

"So what does he look like?" Davis pushed. I grinned to myself.

"He's gorgeous!" I said. How would I even begin to describe Tai? Especially to Davis (who didn't exactly share my interest when it came to sexual partners). Tai was just insanely good-looking – way too good-looking to be a Supervisor in a shop (seriously it should be a crime). Davis pulled his laptop onto his legs and clicked something.

"What's his last name?" he asked.

"You're not going to look him up on Facebook are you?" I asked.

"Not at all." he grinned and I instantly knew that he was lying. I raised an eyebrow at him but he just continued to grin at him.

"Do I get a say in this?" I asked.

"Nope." he replied popping the 'p' on the end. I sighed, rolling my eyes.

"Fine!"

"So what's his last name?"

"Kamiya." I told him. As Davis began typing something in I pushed myself off the chair and went over to sit by him on the sofa so I could look over his shoulder and see what he was looking at. Low and behold he was looking at Tai's Facebook page and he was going through his photos.

"Hmm, not bad." he observed, flicking through a few more of them. He had begun flicking through, what I could assume were photos from the summer just been as most of the pictures were of Tai on the beach. Goddamn he looked amazing without a shirt on! Well-defined abs and a strong looking chest… I really must top obsessing, this is not good for my work ethics. I shouldn't start fantasising about my Supervisor; that is a slippery slope that I don't want to fall down "Hang on!" Davis' voice brought me out of my train of thought.

"What?"

"Who's that?" he asked. In the photo that was currently on the screen Tai was standing on the beach with his arm around the shoulders of a girl wearing a pink and white bikini, about a head shorter than him with short brown hair and eyes very similar to his. Davis hovered his cursor over the girl's face and her name popped up: Kari Kamiya. I suddenly recognised her.

"Oh that's his sister." I said. "I used to be in her class when we were at school." Davis turned to stare at me, open mouthed.

"You used to have classes with this girl and you still like boys!" he exclaimed.

"I was still into girls back then." I said. "So many people thought we were a couple but we were just friends."

"What a waste." Davis muttered shaking his head and turning his attention back to his computer. He clicked on Kari's name and her profile page loaded. "Oh yeah," he said looking at the top of her profile, just underneath her picture. "one mutual friend."

"That would be me." I said. Davis hovered over the link and, sure enough, my profile picture popped up. Davis then went into her photos and began looking through them.

"Oh damn!" he practically moaned as he found a folder of photos marked 'Burlesque Night' and opened it up. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Seriously?" I asked. He turned to me, his face serious.

"Deadly." he replied. "Have you seen this girl? She is beautiful."

"Yes but Facebook stalking is creepy as all hell." I said.

"I think you'll find it is a very underrated art of gathering intel and information for when I finally get to meet her." he said.

"Oh yeah?"

"When I finally meet her I can use this information to strike up a conversation that might actually make her interested in me." he said. "Oh you like Russian Literature, me too! What a coincidence?"

"Yeah but you don't like Russian Literature." I pointed out.

"Details." he replied waving me off and turning his attention back to the screen. I shook him head in exasperation.

"You're hopeless." I said heaving myself off the sofa. "I'm going for a shower, please don't masturbate over my Supervisor's sister." At that he looked up.

"I promise nothing." he replied. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. Davis is such an idiot sometimes. I highly doubt that he will ever meet Kari so that he can lie about his love for Russian Literature. Then again I could easily see myself getting just as insane about Tai. Note to self: do not become a love struck idiot like Davis…


	3. The Nature Of Crazy People

**After a double shift today reading through this was fun. There is a hell of a lot of Jun bashing in this chapter (and in the rest of the story to be fair) but she's a side character who is insane so it really doesn't matter too much anyway hope you enjoy :D**

I'm really struggling today. I'm finding it really, really difficult to concentrate today. Not that working in retail requires a lot of concentration but I am supposed to be paying attention to what I'm being taught. See it wouldn't be so bad if I was being taught by Mimi (like I have been the past couple of days) but unfortunately it is Mimi's day off today.

So did they stick me with another random person at my level who just about knows what they're doing? No! I get to spend my entire shift with Tai, desperately trying to concentrate on what he's telling me rather than staring at his perfect butt when he bends down or picturing the chest that I know is underneath that uniform. This is not going well… well it is but, like I said, I'm just really struggling to stay focused.

"So yeah," Tai said standing up again and I instantly snapped my eyes from his butt to his face and prayed that I was quick enough for him not to notice. "it's a pain but you have got to check all the way to the back of the shelves. Luckily with the alcohol you only have to do it about once a month as everything has such a long date on it."

"That's not too bad then." I mused. "So when you're restocking can you cut out the middle man and just put the stuff with later dates to the back?"

"Well you'd think so," Tai said, a little irritably. "but apparently not everyone thinks to do that." I laughed a little nervously although I was pretty sure that he wasn't kidding.

"So how long have you worked here?" I asked, changing tact. Tai exhaled, comically puffing out his cheeks as he thought about it.

"Seven years, nearly eight." he replied.

"Wow!"

"Yeah," he mused. "long time to be in a job you don't particularly like."

"You don't?" I asked.

"It's retail." he replied. "No one like working in retail."

"Fair point." I said. "So how did you end up here?"

"I didn't exactly do that well in school." he told me. "I was more into playing sports than I was doing any actual work but I just about got in to University. Didn't have any money to go though so I got a job here so I could save up and go the following year and, kind of, never did."

"Ah that sucks." I said. I am aware of the shortcomings of my own eloquence but what do you say in this situation other than a semi heart felt sounding 'that's rough buddy'? Also the fact that I really did fancy the pants off him made my brain cease to function on a higher level of intelligence.

"Yeah," he sighed before perking up and changing the subject. "but enough about me, what's your story?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"How did you end up here?"

"Like I said the other day – five million Yen in debt." I laughed. "I went to University after school and I decided that I wanted to go study in England."

"What did you study?" he asked.

"Photography." I replied.

"That's pretty cool."

"Yeah, unfortunately just a really hard career path to get on to." I said. "I don't live at home anymore either so I needed something so I could earn money for rent and start paying off my student loans."

"Where are you living at the moment?" he asked.

"Highton View Terrace." I replied. "The flat is tiny but it's affordable and affordable is good."

"I live just round the corner from you then." Tai grinned.

"Really?" I asked, silently praying that I didn't sound too interested. I wasn't going to stalk him or anything but that might mean occasionally the possibility of us walking home together.

"Well," he corrected himself. "ten minutes round the corner."

"Close enough." I grinned. He smiled back at me. Goddamn: this guy. I wish I knew if I was in with a shot at all. I know I shouldn't fall down the slippery slope of wanting to fuck my Supervisor but, from what I've seen so far, he's so nice and so insanely good-looking.

"So…" he began after a pause of us just grinning at each other like loons (or more accurately me looking like a loon) but whatever he had been about to say was cut off by someone – a girl – practically singing his name. His entire body seemed to tense up at the sound of her voice. "Oh god!"

"Tai!" the girl practically sang again as she reached the two of us. Now that she was closer she looked weirdly familiar; reddish brown hair that sort of spiked up uncontrollably, like someone else I know but I couldn't quite put my finger on whom. She grabbed onto Tai's arm and hugged it to her chest. "I've missed you!"

"Hi Jun." Tai said, his face turning slightly pink. All I could do was stare momentarily. I guess this is his girlfriend. Well judging from the way she's practically throwing herself all over him (oh no, I'm not jealous at all that would be insane) I'd say that wasn't an unreasonable assumption to make. She continued to nuzzle up against him, like a cat, while gushing about how much she's missed him. Tai just looked incredibly embarrassed and too stunned to do anything.

This is making me uncomfortable can I go? That was all that was going through my mind as I watched her. It wasn't just the fact that she was all over the guy I rather liked (I had figured it was likely that he was into girls anyway so I knew I didn't have a chance with him) but overly public displays of affection had always made me very uncomfortable. I cleared my throat hoping to announce my presence to her and make her stop. It was only then that Tai seemed to come back to life.

"Sorry," he said (and he was definitely only talking to me). "Jun this is TK, our latest Newbie. TK this is Jun Motomiya, she's Supervisor at our store across town." As soon as he said the name it clicked why I sort of recognised her.

"Motomiya? You're not related to Davis Motomiya by any chance?" I asked her. She turned to stare at me and, even though her face didn't show it, there was a look in her eyes that said she wanted me to stop talking and leave.

"Yeah," she replied, waspishly. "he's my little brother."

"I live with him." I told her. I might as well try and be friendly even if she did look like she wanted to stab my eyes out with a fork.

"Oh yeah," she said, flatly, as if she really couldn't give a shit one way or the other. "I thought I recognised your name." The three of us then fell into an incredibly awkward silence with me looking uncomfortable, Tai looking uncomfortable and Jun hanging off Tai's arm looking like she might stab me.

"So what brings you over this way Jun?" Tai asked breaking the silence. She turned her attention back to him and instantly lived up.

"I had to come over and have a chat with your store manager and I thought that while I was here I'm come and say hi to you."

"Great." Tai said in an attempt to be cheery but there was a distinct crack in his voice. I on the other hand felt a sinking sensation of dread. How often does this girl pop up and will she stab me for talking to him? She very much has the air of the 'Overly Attached Girlfriend' and would wrestle a pensioner if she thought they were looking at her man the wrong way.

"So Tai I was wondering," she began as if I wasn't there. "are you free after work this evening?" Tai opened his mouth to answer and I could practically see the cogs in his head working overtime to try and come up with some kind of suitable answer. At that moment Tai's work phone started to ring and a shadow of relief passed over his face.

"Sorry, gotta take this." he told her as he picked up the call. "Hello… Yeah she's just arrived… Shall I send her up? … Ok she'll be with you in a couple of minutes."

"Manager?" Jun asked.

"Yep." Tai nodded. Jun sighed theatrically.

"I guess I better get going then." she said. She turned to me. "Bye TJ."

"Bye." I said ignoring the fact that she hadn't even bothered to get my name right. She turned to Tai, batting her eyelashes and looking at him in adoration.

"See you soon Tai." she practically purred.

"Bye Jun." Tai said. She detached herself from his arm, blew him a kiss and left. I waited until I was sure that she was out of earshot before I spoke again.

"Well she seems nice." I stated, not totally sure I wasn't being sarcastic as all hell. Tai just rolled his eye.

"That sure is one way to describe her." he said.

"She's better when it's just the two of you right?" I asked. Tai laughed.

"Wouldn't know." he replied. "Never been in a situation where I've been alone with her."

"Oh!" I was surprised by that. Even though he had looked uncomfortable throughout the whole conversation I thought that was just because he wasn't one for public displays of affection. "So you and her…"

"Oh god no." Tai said hurriedly. "She has this thing with me but she's definitely not my girlfriend."

"Ok." We fell into a slightly awkward pause as neither one of us really knew what to say to that. On the one hand I was rather relieved but at the same time still worried that she might stab me if she even saw me standing to close to him.

"So," Tai said finally breaking the silence. "what haven't I shown you yet?"

"Um…" There was a list (his washboard abs for one) but of work related stuff I was coming up on empty…


	4. The Gathering Of Information

**Hey guys so here's another update, don't know if I ever mentioned this earlier but the premise for this was inspired by real life events (up to a certain point anyway) hope you're all enjoying it wanted to upload this yesterday but was afk**

"So how's your day going?" Davis asked. I was sitting in the break room having my lunch and I had phoned him on the off chance that he would be on his lunch break too (and to tell him that I had met Jun).

"Fine." I said. "How's yours?"

"One of the kids threw up on me; so messy."

"You can't really blame them for being ill." I pointed out.

"He stuck his fingers down his throat, he did it on purpose." he said. "They hate me."

"You're paranoid." I said. "Where are you now?"

"I'm currently in the toilet in my underwear." he said.

"Are you sure that's a good place for you to be?" I asked, an incredulous look on my face even though I knew he couldn't see me. "You do work with little kids."

"I locked the door." he replied as if this would have been obvious. "Anyway enough about my shit job how's your shit job."

"Shit." I replied.

"Really that bad?"

"It's not that." I sighed. "I just don't think retail work is for me."

"Well of course it isn't – you want to be a photographer – this is just temporary." Davis said. "You've got to wade through crap like this or it won't be satisfying when you finally make it and have the job you actually want."

"I guess so." I replied. It always surprised me when Davis came out with strangely profound things like this. Love him as I do he is a bit of an idiot and I do forget that he's actually really quite intelligent and philosophical.

"Plus there is your boss's butt." he added and the illusion was shattered.

"Not exactly my boss but sure." I laughed.

"So how long until you leave the nursery of the Demon Hell Spawn?" I asked.

"Only three hours left to go." he said.

"That's not too bad." I offered.

"They hate me." he said. "They're trying to kill me." It was at that moment that I suddenly remember my reason for calling.

"Speaking of people trying to kill us I met your sister today." I said.

"Jun?"

"Yes, how many do you have?" I asked.

"Oh fuck! Did she tell you that I used to suck my thumb until I was twelve?" he asked. I was about to answer but he seemed to be on a roll so I let him continue. "Or that I used to bite my toenails and spit them on the floor? Or that I used to wet the bed every other Thursday?"

"No," I said once he had finished, barely able to contain the laughter in my voice. "but thanks for the cannon fodder."

"Oh shit…"

"Shit indeed, dumbass." I laughed. "You really should wait until people say she said embarrassing stuff before revealing that kind of information."

"Oh shut up, it's been a long day," he said. "and I still have three hours left of it."

"Good luck man, not long now." I told him. "Put your clothes back on and get through the last three hours."

"Yeah I'll see you at home." he said. "Love you." he giggled.

"Goodbye Davis." I replied before hanging up the phone. He's such an idiot, I thought to myself, shaking my head before turning my attention back to the photography magazine I had been flicking through. Why are these things always filled with nice stuff that I can't afford? I sighed. At least I could be certain that I was going to make rent this month once I got paid.

"Hey," a voice from beside me said. "how's it going?" I looked up and saw Mimi smiling at me as she pulled a chair out from under the table and sat down opposite me.

"Not too bad." I shrugged. "Half way through the day."

"That's alright then." she said. "I'm on a half day today but it's a late one."

"Ah that sucks." I replied. She shrugged.

"At least I didn't have to get up early." she said. "What are you reading by the way?" she asked looking over at the magazine in front of me. I flipped the cover so she could see.

"Photography magazine." I told her. "Just looking at all the cool stuff I want but can't afford to buy."

"I do the same with shoes." she said. She sighed heavily. "If only this job paid better."

"How long have you been here?" I asked.

"Four years now I think." Mimi replied. "I kind of lost count after a while and just pretended that I've only been here a year."

"How come you ended up here?" I asked.

"I needed a job while my boyfriend was a medical school." she said. "He's training to be a doctor and as soon as he has a place at a hospital and a decent salary I'll be out of here and doing what I really want."

"Which is?"

"Fashion designing." she replied. "I'm guessing it's like you with your photography – it's a really hard path to get onto."

"Yeah." I agreed before subtly changing tact. "So you haven't been here as long as Tai then?"

"Not quite," she replied. "and I hope I can leave before I have."

"What about Jun?" I asked. "How long has she worked for the company?"

"How do you know about Jun?" Mimi asked. She sounded less cheerful somehow and I wondered if that was because I had mentioned Jun.

"I met her earlier when she came in to see the manager and as it turns out she's my flatmate's sister." I told her.

"God I feel sorry for your flatmate." she muttered darkly. I laughed.

"She did seem a little…" I searched for the right word. "interesting." That was the best I could come up with without being insulting. Having said that it didn't seem as if Mimi really cared whether I insulted Jun or not.

"She's a crazy psychotic bitch." Mimi said.

"Not a fan?" I laughed. Mimi suddenly realised how angry she had been sounding and laughed.

"Not really." she told me. "I'm guessing if you met her then you were with Tai when she was arrived?"

"Yeah," I replied. "he was taking me through alcohol wastage."

"Yeah she latches herself onto him like some kind of homing beacon whenever she comes into the store and only detaches herself when she absolutely has to."

"I did notice that yes." I cut in.

"She's a nightmare!" Mimi said. "She saw me and him having a joke once and, despite the fact that I told her about Joe many times when I'd met her before, she told me that if she ever saw me talking to Tai again she'd cut my hair off."

"Jesus!"

"Like I said: psychotic bitch." she said. "She's completely delusional as well."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well you know how she acts like she's Tai's girlfriend?"

"Yeah."

"I'm guessing after she left Tai told you that she's not, right?"

"Yeah."

"This is my point," Mimi said. "she's completely delusional. She's not Tai's girlfriend but she's so weirdly attached to him she can't actually see that he really doesn't like her."

"She does kind of prevent him from ever being able to talk to anyone or have a girlfriend." I remarked. I really hope, for Tai's sake if nothing else, that she doesn't know where he lives otherwise things could get even worse for him.

"Well yeah but I don't think Tai's really all that interested." she stated.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I've known Tai for four years," she said. "and I sort of knew him when we were at school and I've never known him to have a girlfriend or even show an interest in wanting one."

"Maybe he just likes to keep that side of his life private?" I offered. It seemed as if she was throwing me a bone here but I was reluctant to take it in case she was wrong.

"There's having a private life and not talking to anyone about what your life is like outside of work." she said.

"I guess." I shrugged.

"He's never said anything to me about it but I recon he's gay." she said.

"That's a pretty steep conclusion to jump to." I told her. She grinned at me.

"Sweetie I could tell you were gay from the moment you walked in here," she said. "I guarantee I'm right about this." I laughed.

"If you say so."

"Trust me," she said. "I can read this stuff. So," she added after a pause. "are there any guys here you have your eye on?"

"Um…" Well this conversation could go one of two ways. "Haven't really been looking if I'm honest." Yep that's the best policy: lying through my teeth…


	5. The Distraction Of Others

**Slightly longer chapter today as a sort of reward for not projectile vomiting during my presentation today hope you enjoy too :D**

I had been lost in thought (trying to keep my mind on photographs rather than the conversation Mimi and I had had in the break room the other day) as I had been stacking one of the produce shelves. I was completely immersed in my own little world, not paying any attention to the world around me, so to say that the sudden tap on the shoulder surprised me was a bit on an understatement.

I jumped, hitting my head on the edge of the shelf above the one my head had been stuck in. Pain ripped through my skull as I tried to stop myself from swearing loudly in front of a customer, although the agonised grunt was harder to cover. I pulled my head out of the shelf and turned round to see Davis standing behind me looking apologetic.

"I'm so sorry," he gushed. "are you ok? I thought you knew I was there." I rubbed the top of my head and checked my hand to see if I was bleeding. Thankfully I wasn't.

"It's fine, I'm ok." I told him. "Have you always had two heads?" His jaw dropped and he looked horrified until I started laughing.

"Very funny." he grumbled, giving me a punch on the arm. I continued to laugh.

"I thought so." I told him. "So what brings you over here?" I asked once I had calmed down. I looked at my watch; it was only half past three. Obviously Davis had decided to come down here after he finished work (if it was just to give me a potential concussion I was going to kill him).

"I got paid today." Davis said, happily. "And because of all the shit I've had to deal with over the last couple of days I got a little something extra for my troubles so I thoughts I'd come in, see what you wanted for dinner and then have it ready for when you get home with beer and films."

"That sounds great." I said. "I'm so glad you're happy buddy."

"After the week I've had so far me too." Davis replied. "I don't think I could actually get any happier right now… oh hello…" He tailed off and began staring in the direction just behind my shoulder.

"What?" I asked about to turn round and see for myself but he grabbed my shoulder and kept me facing him.

"In coming." he said.

"What?" I asked again. I immediately realised what when a girl's voice spoke up behind me.

"Hi," she said. "I'm sorry to bother you but do you know if the Supervisor is around at all?" I turned to face her and immediately knew why Davis had been cut off mid-sentence. Kari was standing behind me looking incredible in a tight shirt and tiny shorts. (I must admit that if I wasn't crushing hard on her brother – and liked girls – I would have been incredibly tempted to ask her out.) Realisation dawned on her as I turned to face her and she beamed at me.

"Kari Kamyia." I grinned at her. "Haven't seen you in a while."

"TK!" she cried happily as she threw her arms around my neck and hugged me tightly. "Oh my god it's been forever!" I could feel Davis staring, open mouthed, as I hugged her back. Finally she pulled away, her hands still on my shoulders, and looked me up and down. "Wow you're looking good."

"You too." I said. "Although did you forget your shorts today?" She pulled a face and playfully slapped me on the arm.

"Oh shut up," she giggled. "have you seen your uniform?"

"Touché." I replied. "So what brings you over here?"

"I was hoping to find Tai, have you seen him at all?" she asked.

"Not for a while." I told her. "I can go see if he's in the office at all."

"No don't worry about it, it's not massively important." she said. "I can see that you're busy." She gestured her head in Davis' direction.

"I wouldn't worry too much it's just my flatmate." I stated. "Kari this is my friend Davis Motomiya, Davis this is Kari Kamyia an old friend of mine from high school." It seemed a tad redundant introducing Kari to Davis considering the amount of Facebook stalking he had done but I thought I could at least pretend that my flatmate isn't a horrific pervert.

"Pleased to meet you." Davis grinned, holding out his hand for her to shake. Kari beamed at him and I could almost see his heart skipping a beat. She ignored his hand and went straight in for a hug. I had to stop myself from laughing as Davis' entire body froze and he stared at me, wide eyed, before I gestured for him to hug her back and he came to himself.

"Nice to meet you too. So how do you know TK?" she asked when she pulled away.

"We live together." Davis said. Considering as I had introduced him as my flatmate it was safe to say that Kari knew that already. I stopped myself from smacking myself in the forehead with the palm of my hand.

"I got back from University in England and was looking for a place to live." I explained. "Davis was looking for a flatmate so I moved in with him."

"Oh yeah I forgot you went to Uni in England!" Kari exclaimed. "How was it?"

"It was good." I said. "It was a lot of fun, the legal drinking age is a couple of years younger than here so for the first few weeks the guys I lived with kept getting me drunk to build up my tolerance."

"Didn't work though," Davis chipped in, regaining his mental capacity. "he's still a lightweight."

"I'm not that bad." I said as Kari laughed.

"Oh really?" Davis asked grinning at me. "The last time you and I went out drinking together you only had three beers before you started singing the British National Anthem."

"It was a reflex." I grumbled. There had been some nights at University where beer had lead to loud bouts of the British National Anthem that I can never remember why I just remember it happening.

"Do you have more stories like this?" Kari asked. Davis grinned evilly at me.

"Tons." he replied. I raised my eyebrows at him. Was that rat bastard really going to sell me out to get in favour with a pretty girl? "I can tell you about the time we went out drinking and I found him the next morning sleeping in the bath." Apparently he was.

"Hey Davis," I cut in. "remember that conversation I had with your sister?" I smirked at him as his face fell. "Now we're even."

"Sneaky bastard." he muttered under his breath.

"I'm intrigued now." Kari said grinning at the both of us. She was about to start pressing us both for information but, luckily for the two of us, was cut off before she had the chance.

"Kari are you bothering my staff again?" Tai asked. Thank god, saved in the nick of time. She turned to him, placing her hands on her hips.

"Do you consider a friendly conversation bothering?" she asked, sweetly.

"I consider everything you do bothering." he replied. Kari laughed.

"Love you too big brother." she said. Tai just rolled his eyes. "Besides Davis here isn't staff, so in actual fact I'm having a friendly conversation with another member of the public." Tai raised an eyebrow at her before turning to me.

"Do you know either of these two?"

"Yeah." I admitted.

"TK and I used to go to school together." Kari told him. Tai sighed.

"I keep forgetting you're the same age as my baby sister." he muttered. I'm not quite sure what he meant by that. "And Kari," he continued grumpily. "next time you come in can you actually put some clothes on."

"I am wearing clothes." she said, a dangerous note to her voice.

"It looks like you forgot to put pants on." he said.

"No complaints here." Davis murmured, his eyes practically glued to Kari's backside. I gave him a swift, sharp elbow to the ribs and he doubled over in pain. Luckily Tai hadn't heard his previous comment or I imagine there would be all hell to pay. Kari, on the other hand, had and she turned to smile at Davis, who was now clutching his stomach, and wink at him. He grinned back like a lovesick idiot.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Tai asked, regaining Kari's attention.

"Mum asked me to come in and find out if you're still going to theirs for dinner tonight seeing as you're not replying to any of her messages." she replied.

"Firstly," Tai said sounding a little irritated. "I'm at work. Secondly you've eaten our mother's cooking; after five years of doing my own cooking I don't know if I can stomach it anymore."

"You're coming and that's the end of it." Kari told him.

"You haven't even asked me if I'm busy tonight!"

"Are you?"

"No…"

"Well then."

"Fine!" he grumbled. "I finish here at six so I should be at Mum and Dad's by seven."

"Good." Kari smiled. "Hey if you're lucky you might even be able to help with the cooking."

"Sure." he replied. "Was that everything?"

"No, are you still coming to my house party Saturday night?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"No."

"Then yes." he replied.

"Great!" she beamed before turning to me and Davis. "Do you guys want to come as well?" Davis and I looked at each other and I could tell what he was thinking almost immediately. His eyes were begging that I say yes so that he could try and get off with Kari. I couldn't really fault him for that – my heart was doing summersaults at the prospect of seeing Tai outside of work.

"Sure." we said in unison turning back to Kari.

"Fantastic!" she exclaimed, beaming at us. She pulled a pen out of the tiny bag she was carrying and took Davis by the wrist. He stared, bewildered, as she began to write something on his arm. When she was done she let go and I saw that she had written her phone number up his forearm. "Text me and I'll let you know the details." she told him.

"Ok." he replied grinning like a loon.

"Cool," she smiled. "I'll see you two on Saturday and I'll see you at Mum and Dad's later Tai."

"Ok now go away so I can get some work done." he said.

"See you later Grumpy." she laughed. "Bye TK, bye Davis." She waved to the both of us and was gone. Davis still staring after her like a puppy. I grinned and clicked my fingers in front of his face. This seemed to bring him back to reality.

"So dinner," he said still sounding a little bit out of it. "I'm thinking steak."

"Steak sounds good." I replied.

"Cool," he said. "I'll go pick that up now, go home and get cooking."

"I finish in about an hour or so." I told him suspecting that he was going to do more than just cooking.

"Cool, see you then." he said and went to leave. He still wasn't completely paying attention to what he was doing or where he was going and he ended up walking into one of the shelves.

"You ok buddy?" I asked.

"All good." he replied giving me a thumbs up before heading off in the other direction.

"Is he always like that?" Tai asked once Davis had disappeared.

"More often than not." I replied. Tai chuckled softly. "What?"

"Nothing," he replied shaking his head. "I was just thinking this party might actually be fun now."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well I can actually have an intelligent conversation with you," he grinned. "and it will be nice to see you outside of work."

"Yeah…" I replied not entirely sure what he meant by that but he seemed to have perked up a lot more now that he knew that I was going to be at the party. Really shouldn't read too much into that though…


	6. The Effects Of Alcohol

**I must admit that when I first published this I didn't imagine that it would get as much of a response as it has so thank you guys so much for all your reads, reviews and just general support so for this chapter here is what we've all been waiting for: a lil bit of delicious yaoi :D**

Saturday night finally came around and Davis and I managed to find our way to Kari's house with the directions she sent Davis. Even when it looked as if we were about to get very lost Davis still seemed very reluctant for me to look at the messages on his phone to see if I could make any more sense of them. I decided that I just wasn't going to ask – it would be better for my sanity in the long run.

I could tell he was nervous about seeing Kari again (he was clearly incredibly infatuated by this girl so he had good reason to be). I was also pretty nervous myself. I had been harbouring my crush on Tai for nearly three months now and I was finally going see him outside of work and could show him that I looked good out of uniform and I wasn't the gawky little kid he once knew.

When we finally got to Kari's house the vast majority of people there were already drunk so we were each given a beer and two shots so that we could 'catch up'. I hadn't drunk like this since University and I felt incredibly out of practice as the shot burnt the back of my throat. Might be a good idea to take it slowly, don't want to make too much of an arse out of myself…

Everyone that I spoke to was already pretty hammered and with each and every conversation the person that I was speaking to decided that I wasn't drunk enough and handed me a drink. Having said that despite this I still seemed to remain pretty damn sober… well I felt sober although I was pretty sure that my liver would be disagreeing in the morning.

The only other person at the party who seemed to be as sober as I was, was Tai. We had a couple of brief chats mostly about the fact that we both felt very sober at a party full of drunk people (which is never the fun place to be) but other than that we had sort of been mingling and trying to get drunker. It just didn't seem to be working for me though.

I had lost Davis after about the first hour and I had only seen Kari maybe once or twice. Eventually I decided to see if I could find an empty room to chill out in for a bit before braving the sea of drunk again. The first couple of doors that I tried were locked, which made sense (if I had a house party I'd probably lock my bedroom doors as well so that people didn't mistake it for the bathroom).

Finally I found an open door. I pushed it open and saw a sink so I knew I had found the bathroom. I pushed the door open all the way and the sight that met my eyes was not what I had expected at all. Davis and Kari were standing in the middle of the bathroom, her arms wrapped around his neck and his around her waist with one of his hands stuffed in the back pocket of her tiny shorts, kissing furiously.

I stood there staring for a good couple of minutes, neither of them noticing that I was there. Well why would they? They were way too wrapped up in each other's mouths to notice someone else was in the room as well. I began to feel uncomfortable after a while so I began to back out of the room, intending to just slip away quietly and forget I had ever seen that. That was the plan anyway… the reality was a little different.

As I went to back away I ended up walking backwards into a shelf and as my shoulder hit it I ended up dislodging quite a few bottles, which clattered loudly to the floor. The sound alerted Davis and Kari to my presence and they broke away instantly, Kari trying to fix her smeared lipstick. Davis just stared at me, red faced, and all I could do was look between the two of them in utter surprise. This was the last thing I had expected to see (I mean I had expected Davis to try, certainly, but I had never expected Kari to go along with it). She seemed to be the one who snapped back to reality first and pulled me inside the bathroom and closed the door behind me.

"Hey TK," she said. "sorry you walked in on that I thought I'd locked the door." She didn't seem embarrassed by the fact that I'd caught her getting off with my flatmate but more by the fact that she'd forgotten to lock the door. I shook my head.

"It's fine." I said. "I'll just leave you guys to it and get out of your hair."

"Could you do me a favour though?" she asked.

"Um sure…" I replied.

"Could you maybe not tell Tai about this?" she asked lowering her voice. "He gets really weird and over-protective when it comes to me and dating and this probably isn't going to go anywhere so it would just be easier if he didn't find out."

"Sure thing."

"Plus there was a guy that I used to go out with who has already tried to start a fight with Davis and I'd rather an actual fight didn't break out." she added a little louder.

"Yeah," I muttered. "Davis would get his arse handed to him." Davis came over with a confident swagger and threw his arm around Kari's shoulder.

"I'm pretty sure I could take him." he grinned. I just sighed; once again Davis was as daft and unobservant as ever.

"Sure," I said ignoring him. "you're secret's safe with me." I opened the door and began to back out of it. Davis had already started kissing Kari's neck again and she giggled.

"Remember to lock the door this time." he told her.

"I am so judging you right now." I stated. Davis grinned at me and shrugged.

"Come on dude," he said. "she's hot." As if that was any justification for not waiting till I was gone before he tried to stick his hands down her pants again.

"I wasn't talking to you." I replied before closing the door on them and walking away, hoping to forget everything I had just seen. I turned round the corridor, hoping to find the kitchen and drink away the image of Kari and Davis practically dry humping each other, and ended up walking straight into Tai.

"Hey." he smiled when he saw me and he did seem genuinely happy to see me. Damn he looked good when he smiled. To be perfectly honest he just looked good tonight. I had known that he was hot out of uniform courtesy of Davis and his Facebook stalking and I had always found guys in waistcoats hot but the combination of a waistcoat on Tai was having an effect on my mental restraint.

"Hey." I smiled back. Now I'm actually really glad that I'm not that drunk; I think if I was in anyway out of control I would seriously be thinking about leaning forward and kissing him.

"You enjoying the party?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's great." I half lied. "You?"

"I'm the only sober one in a flat full of drunken idiots." he replied.

"If it helps I'm feeling pretty sober too." I told him. "Although not through lack of trying."

"Same." he said. "I've found – after being to quite a few of these things – that Kari's friends are infinitely easier to deal with when I'm hammered too."

"Isn't that the case with people in general though?" I asked grinning at him. He laughed.

"This is true." he replied. "Speaking of, have you seen my sister at all?" I had two options here; and both involved lying through my teeth. I could either tell him that I had seen her somewhere else in the flat or that I just hadn't seen her at all.

"No," I replied shaking my head. "haven't seen her for ages." There we go; Option 2: Plausible Deniability.

"She might still be in the bathroom then." he stated and made to get past me and over to it. On instinct I grabbed his arm.

"Wait!" I said a little louder than I expected to. "I think the door's locked so she'd probably not in there." Tai laughed.

"TK I know she's getting off with your flatmate." he told me. I blanched.

"How?" I asked.

"Probably the same way you do." he stated. "I went in to use the bathroom earlier and saw them together because Kari hadn't locked the door so I just slipped out and left them too it."

"Oh…" That was pretty much all I could think of to say, very eloquent I know.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it," he told me. "but thank you for trying, that was something I could have done without seeing."

"Same." I agreed. Neither of us really knew what to say after that and it wasn't till I looked down that I realised I was still practically holding his hand from where I had tried to stop him. I looked up and Tai was just staring at me. I opened my mouth to say something when he shifted his grip slightly so that the two of us were now holding hands.

"Let's go get some fresh air." he said. I allowed him to drag me through the flat, through the masses of people, until we came to the very small balcony. He slid the door closed behind us so that we wouldn't be disturbed by anyone. The noise from inside was instantly muffled and the sounds of the traffic down bellow and the wind in the trees took over.

It was a chilly night and as soon as the cold hit me I realised just how much it was that I had drunk. My head began to feel fuzzy, as if the alcohol had been waiting for this exact moment, when I should be keeping my wits about me, to take effect. I swayed slightly as I made my way over to the edge of the balcony and leaned on the railing for support. Tai joined me, our shoulders brushing. Where his skin touched mine tingled, like it was statically charged, but I couldn't be sure that that wasn't another after effect of the alcohol.

"Ok I thin I'm a lot drunker than I thought I was." I said laughing.

"I think I am too." Tai replied in kind. "Now I'm out in the fresh air I'm definitely feeling it." We both laughed like drunken idiots before I opened my eyes and realised that Tai and I were a lot closer than I had thought we were. Our foreheads were practically touching and it would be so easy to lean forward and just kiss him even though I really shouldn't. Once he realised I had stopped laughing Tai did too and realised our situation as well.

"Tai…" I breathed. This was not good! Here I was; mere inches from kissing the guy who I've been fantasising about for about three or four months now, who is also effectively my boss, and the alcohol was telling me that it was a good idea to go for it while the sober voice that should be stopping me was getting easier to ignore. I should be pulling away but something kept me there.

Tai turned to that he was facing me and looked into my eyes. I couldn't tell what he was thinking and all I could do was stare up at him as he reached up to brush my fringe out of my eyes. It fell right back into place again and he chuckled softly before running his hand through my hair until he was cupping the back of my head. I couldn't do anything but stand there staring up at him, I was too nervous to move. I thought that if I did then it would all be over and it would have just been a dream or something.

Tai leaned forward using his grip on the back of my head to keep me in place, before tilting my head up slightly and pressing his lips to mine. My eyes snapped open and I froze up completely as our lips first touched but when I felt him begin to pull away I came back to myself. I sunk my hands into his hair and pulled him back in for another kiss.

Kissing Tai was unlike anything I had fantasised about, it was so much better! There was a tiny voice in the back of my head saying that this was only because of the alcohol but as he took my bottom lip between his teeth and gently dragged them over it I couldn't even begin to care. Tai's other hand had found its way to my waist and he wrapped his arm around me pulling me close. I licked his top lip playfully and soon tongues were added into the mix.

Our tongues danced over one another and a soft moan escaped my lips as Tai pulled me right up against his chest. I could feel all the muscles I had only seen in pictures and it was amazing. I could quite happily stay out here like this for the rest of the evening. The hand that was on my waist slipped underneath the hem of my shirt to rest on the small of my back and the skin contact was enough to pull another moan from my lips.

Finally Tai pulled back. He pressed another gentle kiss to my lips before pulling back completely. He still had one of his hands underneath my shirt while the other was in my hair though. He looked down at me and I was very tempted to lean forwards and kiss him again but he removed his hands and took a step back.

"Sorry," he said. "that was unprofessional."

"It's ok." I replied through the haze of lust and alcohol. "Drunken accident."

"We should probably go back inside." he said.

"Yeah…" I replied. I didn't want to. I wanted to stay out here and keep kissing him but he was right. This was unprofessional and a really bad idea, no matter how much I liked him and actually wanted to be with him. Even though he had suggested it he made no move to actually go back inside so I made my way over to the door a little unsteadily. Just as I passed him he reached out and grabbed my wrist.

"Oh fuck it!" I heard him muttered before he pulled me back round to face him, placed his hands on either side of my face, cupping it, and kissed me again. It was short but heated and I really didn't want him to pull away. But he did. This time he pulled away and went over to the door opened it and went back inside.

I stood, rooted to the stop, just staring after him for a good couple of minutes before a car backfired on the street bellow and brought me back to the real world. I went back inside and closed the door behind me. I couldn't see Tai anywhere – he had disappeared into the crowd while I was still reeling from what had just happened between us. I went into the kitchen and poured myself a large glass of vodka hoping to drink enough to have forgotten what had happened by the time I woke up tomorrow…


	7. The Harsh Light Of Day

**Oh my god I am finally free of deadlines until September! And I have a brand new shiny computer that works! I can write things in bulk again! Anyway to celebrate here is a new chapter with the aftermath of last chapters and a lil fluffy bit in the middle, enjoy :D**

The alcohol-induced amnesia is something only a lucky few are able to indulge in. I, unfortunately, am not one of those lucky few. When I woke up the next morning the events of the night before were still painfully clear as was the resulting hangover that was throbbing through my temple.

Tai and I had kissed. It wasn't even something we could pass off as an accidental lip bump either; there had been tongues and moaning and his hand up the back of my shirt and everything. Not only that it had effectively happened three times! (Well three separate kisses but it's not like I was counting or anything – no that would be weird.) If I closed my eyes I could still feel his lips against mine and it was like all my dreams had come true.

But I knew I couldn't get hung up on it. I mean Tai had apologised for being unprofessional and I had said not to worry about it because it was nothing more than a drunken accident. I still had to work with him after that and there was a chance that he wouldn't remember it depending on how drunk he had actually been. I decided, while still lying in a cocoon of blankets and hungover failure, that the next time I saw Tai at work I wasn't going to bring up the kiss unless he did.

When I finally managed to extract myself from my bed, taking my blankets with me, apparently as soon as you graduate, even though you're not even a year older, you lose your ability to deal with hangovers, and went to vegetate on the sofa with Davis. We watched a few crappy TV movies and he made bacon once we both had the mental capacity to move.

Every so often his phone would go off and he would look at it and grin like a loon. I wanted to ask (as I suspected it had something to do with Kari) but I knew that he would tell me when he wanted to. He asked me what had happened to me at the party but I decided not to tell him about Tai. If Tai and I weren't going to talk about it then I saw no reason for me to talk to anyone else about it.

When I went to work on Tuesday I saw Tai and greeted him as I would normally, trying to gage what kind of reaction I would get. He greeted me with his usual cheery (well cheery for him at work) reaction so I decided not to say anything about what happened at the party. Either he didn't remember it at all or he wasn't going to bring it up because he didn't want to make things uncomfortable. That was fair (and a very good idea) I mean we did still have to work together after all.

I must have not been checking where my eyes were wondering because I found myself staring at Tai a lot that day. Luckily he didn't seem to notice and the few times he caught me eye I could pass it off as looking for something in that general direction. Unfortunately someone else did.

"Earth to TK." Mimi giggle right behind me when I was caught in one of my stares, making me jump. "You alive in there?" she asked as I tried to get my breath back.

"Sorry." I panted. "I was off in my own little world."

"I could see that." she smirked. "Thinking about anything in particular?"

"Nope." I lied shaking my head and continuing with the date check I had been doing. Unfortunately Mimi was the persistent type and she had clued on to something (probably because I was being an unsubtle dumb-arse today) and she wasn't going to drop it until she had got the whole story.

"I just wondered," she shrugged, feigning nonchalance. "because you looked as if you were staring off in a particular direction. At a certain someone?" I sighed. It was time to face the music to at least one person who wasn't Davis and Mimi wasn't going to drop it.

"What are you getting at Mimi?" I asked. She grinned at me and leaned in close to my ear.

"I saw you and Tai kissing on Saturday night." she told me. My jaw practically hit the floor. I cleared my throat.

"What?" I asked. As far as I was aware she wasn't at the party and there was a slim chance that I could possibly convince her that she didn't actually see what she thought she did.

"On Saturday night," she said slowly as if I was having trouble understanding what she was saying. "when you guys were at his sister's I saw the two of you standing out on the balcony talking and then I saw you kissing." Ok there was no way that I could convince her that she hadn't seen that. That was a pretty accurate description of what had happened.

"How did you…?" I began tailing off as I realised that there was no way that I was going to get out of this one.

"I was at Joe's and he lives three doors down from Tai's sister." she grinned slyly at me.

"Ah…"

"So…" she pressed after a short awkward pause. "what's going on between you two?" And there was my little light of hope. I could still just about lie my way out of this if I was very convincing. I shrugged and shook my head.

"Nothing." I replied.

"Didn't look like nothing to me." she pressed.

"It was a drunken accident." I told her grinning in what I hoped was a convincing way. She eyed me shrewdly. Clearly she didn't believe me.

"A drunken accident is falling asleep next to the toilet or eating an entire wheel of cheese," she said. "not dry humping your Supervisor on his sister's balcony where anyone could see you."

"There was no dry humping!" I cried trying to keep my voice down.

"Like I said," she grinned. "looked pretty heated from where I was standing. So did you two get it on?" I rolled my and shook my head.

"If you continued to watch for the whole thing, which I suspect you didn't considering you're asking, you would have seen him go back inside before I did." I told her.

"Yeah I must admit I thought I should probably give you as much privacy as you were going to get considering you were going at it in a public place," she said. "and skipped out before it got too juicy."

"You're terrible." I told her.

"I know." she grinned. "So how did it happen?"

"It's a long story." I said.

"I've got time."

"Aren't you supposed to be working?"

"Probably." she grinned. "Now come on: spill!" I sighed.

"Fine. We were at his sister's party. I walked in on his sister and my flatmate getting off in the bathroom and after I made my escape from that awkward situation I bumped into him and he already knew about them despite my best efforts." I told her. "Then we went out to the balcony for some air, we both realised we were a lot drunker than we thought we were and we kissed. It's not big deal."

"No big deal?" she asked incredulously. "I've known Tai for a good few years now and I've never known him to drunkenly kiss anyone."

"And?" I asked. She sighed as if I was completely clueless.

"All I'm saying is the drunken mind acts out what the sober mind wants to." she stated.

"You're dreaming." I replied.

"Oh come on!" she exclaimed. "Don't tell me you haven't thought about it at all!"

"I…" I began but I stopped immediately when I saw Tai walking towards us over her shoulder.

"Mimi are you actually doing any work?" he asked when he reached us. She shrugged. "Or are you just bothering TK?"

"I'm just getting briefed on how far he's gotten." she replied. "You did tell me to take over from him so he can go home after all."

"Sure thing." Tai said shaking his head and rolling his eyes as he walked away. "Just hurry up about it I'm sure he wants to go home."

"I would actually." I said directing the statement at her.

"You are so clueless." she said as I handed her over the box of biscuits I had been putting out on the shelf.

"And you are reading way too much into this." I said.

"All I'm saying is for someone who is as protective of Kari as Tai is he's in an awfully good mood for someone who knows that she was snogging your flatmate all night." she said.

"And you think I have something to do with that?" I asked.

"Yes."

"You're insane." I told her, raising my hands to say that I was done with the whole conversation. "I'm going home."

"You know I'm right!" she called after me as I left.

"No you're not!" I called back. Thankfully she seemed to accept this and give up although that might have been because I was far enough away for her to be practically shouting at me if she was going to respond.

I tried to ignore what Mimi had said (I knew that she was wrong and there was no way that what she was implying was in anyway true) and this was made vastly easier by the fact that when I got back to my locker and checked my phone I had a text from Matt asking me to call him as soon as I got the message. As soon I was out of the building I dialled his number.

"Hello?" he said sleepily after the third ring.

"Were you asleep?" I asked.

"I was up very late recording." he said obviously knowing that it was me who he was talking to. "I needed a quick pick me up."

"It's three in the afternoon." I said reproachfully.

"I'm a musician; leave me alone." he said as if this justified everything. I just rolled my eyes.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" I asked. "You sounded quite urgent in your text."

"Ah yeah that!" he exclaimed as if he had forgotten that he had even sent me the message. "How are you on the job front?" he asked.

"Still working my shitty retail job for very little pay if that's what you're asking." I replied.

"So you still hate your job?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Good."

"Um… if you say so." I replied. He seemed very happy that I was still stuck in a job I hated that paid me very little money. I mean I know Matt likes to play the part of the jaded rock star who hates the world but using me – his own brother – for his daily dose of schadenfreude seemed a bit like overkill.

"I wanted to see if you still hated your job because if you had one that you actually really liked then I'd try to find someone else." he explained.

"Someone else for what?" I asked.

"The band needs a new photographer." he said after what he would consider a dramatic pause.

"What happened to that American guy?" I asked. "Tim?" There was another pause.

"I may or may not have punched him in the face and then fired him." Matt admitted.

"Any particular reason why?" I asked.

"He kept hitting on Sora every single time she came in to say hi." he said. I got really sick of it and then one day I punched him because he tried to feel her up.

"Ok I can understand the punching then." I said. At least it hadn't been because he was turning into one of 'those' rock stars; the ones who punched people because they were bratty arse-holes (like Noel and Liam Gallagher). At least there was a reason for this.

"So the long and the short of it is we need a new photographer," Matt said. "and I want to recommend you for the job but I wanted to check you weren't doing something that you totally loved first."

"If I did get this job what would it mean?" I asked.

"You'd get to quit your shit one now." he replied.

"Ok but will I still be able to afford to pay my rent slash crippling student debt off with this one?" I asked. The question that I really wanted an answer to.

"You're my baby brother," Matt said. "I'm sure we can come to some kind of arrangement." I had two choices here: on the one hand stay in a shitty job that I hated but knew paid just about well enough for me to afford my rent and to be able to pay a little bit of the huge chunk of debt that I was in each month. On the other hand a job that I would absolutely love (and I'd get to boss Matt around if he wasn't co-operating on shot) and would get me some recognition for the next time I tried to apply for a photographing job.

"Ok. I'll do it." I said. "Recommend me."

"Awesome!" Matt whooped with delight. "I'll tell my manager tonight. He'll probably want you to send over a portfolio of your work and stuff and then have an interview with you."

"Ok just let me know when and where and I'll be there." I said.

"Great!" Matt replied. He sounded so happy and so relieved. He probably got a lot of shit from his manager for punching the photographer so it was probably partially wanting to get me a job in my field and not wanting to get fired for knocking out the other one at the same time. "Oh there was one more thing I wanted to tell you before you go."

"Yeah?"

"Sora's pregnant."

"What?"

"Ten weeks now." Matt said, happily. "I'm going to be a Daddy!"

"Congratulations, that's amazing!" I was so happy for him. He sounded so excited (and that may also have been another factor into his punching of the previous photographer).

"I know." he replied. "It's exciting and scary and I'm only just really processing it now since we had a scan this morning. I can email you the pictures if you want?"

"That would be amazing." I said pulling my flat keys out of my picket. "I'm so happy for you guys."

"Thanks." Matt replied and I could tell that he would be wearing the biggest goofiest grin in the world. "So how about you?" he asked after a short pause. "Any development on the love life front."

"Um…" I hedged. How much did I want to get into this whole story right now? Also considering that Matt knew Tai it might not be the best time to bring up that he was constantly on my mind when I wasn't at work and that we had kissed while drunk. Probably best not to mention that bit…


	8. The Exposure Of Everything

**Hey guys :D well we had to have Jun resurface at some point haha also Michael in this chapter is Mimi's friend from DA2, you know the one who is totes American but sounds about as British as Austin Powers anyway hope you enjoy :D**

I really need to take that job offer. Well when I actually get a physical offer. I had just had to sit through my fourth complaining customer of the last hour because one of the Newbies they hired had been putting stock out in the wrong places so the customers were demanding to know why the expensive stuff they thought was on sale was still full price. God I hate this place…

Tai had been getting the brunt of it so I thought I'd step in and give him a hand with some of the collateral but after apologising again for a mistake that wasn't my fault and getting blamed for it anyway I was beginning to lose my patience. I needed to get out of here or I think I might actually go postal and shoot up the place. Well, if I had a gun and there was no chance I'd go to prison afterwards.

After I had gotten off the phone about the photographer job with Matt I had received a call the next day from his manager telling me that Matt had recommended me for the job and asking me to send a portfolio of my work over to him. I had spent the rest of that evening sifting through all my photographs and selecting the best ones I had of people to best show off my skills.

I really needed this job. Retail work is awful. I think the only reason I'm still here is because I quite like the people I work with (well Mimi and Tai) and by the time I get home I'm too exhausted to look for a new job. Here's hoping that Matt's manager gets back to me quickly. He said it should be within a few days so as soon as I find out I'm probably going to hand in my notice – get out of this shit-hole before I stay here for the next six years.

I had been contemplating this for the vast majority of my shift (when I didn't have to deal with customers) and had pretty much made up my mind by this point. I just needed an answer from the other end. I had been so lost in my thoughts that I didn't realise that someone was talking to me until they tapped me on the shoulder. I turned round to see Jun standing behind me looking incredibly pissed.

"Hi," I smiled hoping to dispel some of her anger. "you ok?" This however just seemed to make things worse.

"Don't you 'hi' me," she snapped. "I've got a bone to pick with you."

"What about?" I asked, confused.

"Oh I think you know what." she replied.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I really don't have any idea what's going on." I know this girl is legit crazy and everything but I really have no idea what the hell she's talking about. I'm assuming it has something to do with Tai (I can't imagine her going this crazy over anything else) but we've hardly been talking that much today and the only way she could be mad for me talking to him is if she had been staking out the store to keep tabs on him. Unless…

"You kissed Tai!" she screeched. Everything seemed to stop at that exact moment. Quite a few people around us (both customers and my co-workers) turned to stare in my direction. I could feel my face heating up. This was not good.

"What?" I asked trying to work out how she could possibly know about that unless she had actually stepped up to stalker level as I'm pretty sure she wasn't at Kari's party.

"You went to his sister's party the other night didn't you?" Jun asked still screeching for all the world to hear.

"Yeah…" No point in trying to lie about it.

"While you were there you and Tai went out onto the balcony and you mouth raped him!" she snarled. To say that this annoyed me greatly would be an understatement.

"That's not how it happened, it was a drunken accident." I told her trying to remain calm and not fly off the handle at this psychotic nut job. "How did you even know, I don't remember seeing you there at all. Are you that crazy you're keeping tabs on him now?" Ok so maybe I lost my cool slightly. She huffed to herself as she pulled out her phone, obviously looking for something. When she found it she turned it to face me. "What am I looking at?" I asked because as far as I could see it was just a picture of a couple of Kari's friends from Saturday night that they'd obviously put on Facebook.

Jun took her phone back huffing to herself again before she turned it back to me. She had zoomed in on the back of the picture and I realised that what I was looking at was a very grainy shot of Tai and me kissing in the background.

"Don't try to deny it." she snapped. "I know that's you." I sighed in exasperation. What did it matter? Nothing I said was going to get through to this crazy bitch.

"It was a drunken accident." I said. "It didn't mean anything."

"Liar!" Jun shouted. Oh my god this was turning into one of those scenes you see in a trashy soap opera and I wanted to walk away but she would just follow me if I did. At this point, however, Mimi jumped in to save me.

"Hey!" she snapped at Jun. "I don't know where you think you get off coming in here and harassing my friend but if you don't leave I will call security."

"I'll leave in good time as soon as I've had a good explanation for why this little slut was kissing my man." Jun replied.

"Tai is not yours, you crazy bitch!" Mimi cried.

"Oh and I suppose he's yours?" Jun asked incredulously, like Mimi was the delusional one.

"I have a boyfriend!" Mimi replied. "You've met him. You're insane!" As they continued to argue (with more and more people turning to stare in our direction) I thought that it might be a good idea to go an get security before Jun took a swing at Mimi and Mimi knocked her out. I turned to leave and found myself running smack into someone who I had thought (and hoped) that I was never going to see again.

"Hey TK." Michael said smiling at me. It felt like something was exploding in my brain at how horrific this situation was turning out. Not only did I have Jun shouting the odds at me for kissing Tai at the party the other night but now my ex shows up from god only knows where and is acting like our break up never actually happened.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked. I could have been nicer about it but I was already annoyed so I decided to continue being annoyed.

"That's a fine way to greet someone who just flew half way around the world to see you." Michael replied.

"That's not an answer!" I practically yelled at him. "Seriously Michael I do not need this right now." Unfortunately it was at that exact moment that Jun overheard me and turned on Michael and me, forgetting her previous quarrel with Mimi.

"Are you his boyfriend?" she asked Michael. That was a pretty big conclusion for her to jump to but form what I hear she's good at that.

"Yes I am." Michael told her.

"No he isn't." I corrected. "Michael we broke up."

"Not for a good reason." he replied.

"Yes for a good reason!" I said. "We broke up because I was moving back to Japan and you were sleeping with other people!"

"I'll admit I made a mistake…" he began. "but…"

"But nothing!" I cut him off. "We're over, remember. You flying half way round the world and dropping in unexpected is not going to change that. Especially as I have no idea how you found me!"

"It's quite easy when you know how to do it." Michael said almost proudly.

"Oh my god will you listen to yourself?" I couldn't believe that he was actually proud of what most normal people would consider to be weapons grade stalker level.

"So what's actually going on here?" Michael asked ignoring me and turning to Jun.

"Your boyfriend was seen kissing my boyfriend." she told him. Fantastic! This just keeps better and better.

"Tai is not your boyfriend." Mimi said in exasperation.

"And Michael is not mine." I added. Neither of them seemed to accept this fact and Michael rounded on me.

"What the fuck?"

"Seriously?" I asked. After all the shit he had put me through at Uni when I found out that he was sleeping with other people he was going to give me a hard time about drunkenly kissing someone and we're not even together!

"Jun will you just get out?" Mimi snapped.

"No!" Jun shouted. The urge to punch her in the face was getting too strong and I was struggling to remind myself not to punch a girl. Having said that is she takes a swing at me I'll give as good as I get. "I'm not leaving until this slut answers for what he's done."

"What the fuck is going on here?!" a voice from behind us shouted. I closed my eyes and felt my entire body sag in frustration and embarrassment as I recognised the voice as Tai's. Jun seemed to perk up immediately as soon as she saw Tai.

"Well basically…" she began.

"Not from you." he said cutting her off. He looked absolutely livid and I had never seen him even remotely angry before. I couldn't look at him though I knew he was expecting me to give him an answer, I could feel him staring at me. When I continued to look at the floor he gave up and turned to Mimi. "What the hell is going on and why is everybody shouting the odds at each other on the shop floor in front of customers?"

"Ok we were all just getting on with our work then this crazy bitch…" Mimi stated, indicating to Jun.

"We can do without the name calling Mimi." Tai said.

"…comes in and starts shouting the odds at TK for no good reason." Mimi continued as if he hadn't spoke.

"He kissed my boyfriend!" Jun screeched.

"Is that what this is all about?" Tai asked incredulously. "Jesus Christ!"

"I keep telling her it was a drunken accident but…" As soon as the word were out of my mouth I knew I shouldn't have said that.

"Ok but the only person you've drunkenly kissed recently is… what?" Tai turned to stare at Jun as what I had said had just sunk in. "Excuse me did you just say 'boyfriend'?" he asked her.

"Yes." she replied as if this was the most obvious thing in the world. Tai let out a bark of hysterical laughter.

"You really are a crazy bitch!" he stated. "When are you going to get it through your head that I am not interested in you; you terrify me!"

"You don't mean that." she said in a small voice.

"No I really do." he told her. "I know people say you've got to be cruel to be kind but in this instance I am being neither. There is no way that you and I are ever going to be together – I am not interested in you and this has been going on far to long!" Tears began to well up in Jun's eyes and I wondered if things had gone a little too far there.

"Now listen here…" Michael began. I have no idea what he thought he was doing, whether he was going to threaten Tai or start a fight with him, but either way it was only going to make matters worse.

"And who the hell are you?" Tai asked.

"I'm Michael, TK's boyfriend." he introduced himself.

"Ex-boyfriend." I corrected immediately although I still managed to catch the hurt look on Tai's face. I turned to Michael. "Michael we're over. You cannot fly half way around the goddamn world and turn up at my place of work, without giving me some warning first, and expect to change that. You slept with other people so I ended it. There is nothing more too it than that. Oh my god did you even have a plan when you turned up here?"

"Well no," he admitted. "I just thought…"

"Whatever you thought the answer is no." I cut him off. "There is nothing that is going to make me change my mind; I've moved on, I'm not interested."

"We know who you are interested in though." Jun quipped.

"Oh my god, really?" I asked turning to stare at her. I really wanted to punch her now. She opened her mouth to speak again but Tai cut her off before she could start this time.

"Ok that's enough!" he snapped. He turned to her. "Jun unless you have a work related issue that has brought you here go back to your own store of whatever you're supposed to be doing today. Only come back here when it's an actual work related issue."

"But…"

"No!" He turned to Michael. "I have no idea who you are but not telling your ex that you're going to fly halfway around the world to see them and just turning up is really not ok. Get out of my store."

"But…"

"No, just no." He turned to me. He sighed but I made sure that I didn't freak out and look away this time. "Just go home, your shifts nearly over anyway."

"Ok." I replied and turned to leave.

"But Tai…" I heard Mimi protest.

"Just leave it Mimi," he said. "please." She threw her hands up as if to say that she was done with this whole thing.

"Fine! Done with this shit anyway" she said and walked away. Tai looked at me again. I wanted to say something but things were too fucked up and complicated for me to make the situation any better so I just turned and left. I would have to deal with the fallout of this eventually but there was nothing I could do about it right now. Might as well just go home…


	9. The Fallout Of Explosions

**Oh man between work and the beginnings of research for 'The Big D' (my dissertation) today has been LONG! Anyway we're nearing the end of this story now so here is the fallout from the last chapter, hope you enjoy :D **

After the screaming match had ended I went to find the store manager and asked if I could take my week's paid holiday. Cowards way out, yes I know, but after everything that had happened I just couldn't face the thought of having to see Tai again. I mean it's not as if it explicitly came out that I like him but with Michael and Jun and everything it was just easier to run away to Matt's for a week.

It wasn't all bad though. I managed to talk to Matt's manager about the photography job and we even did a couple of trial shoots so he could see what I did and how I worked. I also got to have a play around with his equipment, which was a lot more advanced than the stuff that I could afford. He also told me that if I took the job then I would have access to specialist equipment like this.

Considering everything that had happened I had decided that I was going to take the job. As soon as I got back from my week at Matt's I was going to go to my manager the next morning and hand in my notice. There was no point in me staying; for one thing I absolutely fucking hated that job and here I had a 'Get Out Of Jail Free' card. Also it was probably going to be really awkward working with Tai now so it was probably best to just avoid the issue completely and slip away quietly. I'd tell Mimi but that would be it.

By the time I got home that night I had completely made up my mind that that was the plan for the following morning. The plan for that night would be to sleep. I might even continue to avoid Davis. I'd had a few messages from him while I was away but I'd really only send him a quick message back to let him know that I was still alive but I tried to avoid anyone from back home as much as possible. In this instance though I should probably let him know that I was home.

"Davis," I called out as I closed the flat door behind me. "I'm home." There was no reply and at first I figured that he must be out but then I noticed his trainers by the front door. I also noticed that there was another pair of shoes there too: a pair of pink lady's shoes. No prises for guessing who they probably belonged to. Half a minute later Davis emerged from his room looking a little dishevelled and, if I wasn't mistaken, with his t-shirt on back to front.

"Hey man!" he exclaimed in surprise. "You're alive."

"Yeah," I said. I grinned a little sheepishly at him. I should have called him more. I shouldn't have disappeared off the face of the earth entirely. Then again I'm not very good with this dealing with stuff and I panic easily. "Sorry about not calling you I just…"

"No it's totally fine." he said, raising his hands. "I understand. I'd want to get away after something like that happening."

"How did you…" I began.

"I got a phone call from Jun that night, ranting and raving about the whole thing." he explained. "Like I had any idea who any of the people were apart from you."

"I'm sorry dude," I said. "it's bad enough that Tai got dragged into all of this and Michael showing up but…"

"Hey you don't have to apologise." he said. "You know how my sister is a crazy bitch on a good day? Well that was not a good day so the crazy was dialled up by like fifty percent. I just put her on speaker phone and let her rant while I did other things." I couldn't help but laugh at that. "I'm glad you're back though." he added after a pause.

"Me too." I replied.

"Promise not to go disappearing on me again?" he asked.

"Promise." I agreed. He grinned at me.

"Cool." he said. There was a pause and he looked as if he wanted to tell me something. He opened his mouth to speak. "So listen…" He was cut off by his bedroom door opening.

"Hey Davis are you coming back to…" Kari began, emerging in one of Davis' t-shirts and a pair of his boxers. She stopped short when she saw me. "Hey TK."

"Hey." I replied. Both of them looked incredibly embarrassed (as if I hadn't been able to work it out for myself before). "So are you guys…?" I began. I thought I'd throw it out there and just get it over with. Davis grinned.

"Yeah." Kari said. "Sorry this probably wasn't the best way for you to find out about it." I just shrugged and waved her off.

"I figured something like this was going to happen." I said. I gave Davis a look what I hoped said that I was happy for him but it was a bit difficult as I was pretty sure that I had kind of fucked things up with Tai. For once in his unobservant life Davis picked up on it.

"You ok man?" he asked. I shrugged.

"Yeah I'm fine." I lied. "Just tired and just feel like I've ballsed things up on that whole side of things."

"I wouldn't give up so easily." he said conspiratorially. I raised an eyebrow at him. I knew he knew about the whole sorry saga but I had no idea how much Kari knew about it. Probably everything – Davis is rubbish when it comes to keeping things from people.

"I'm not giving up. I got a better job." I told him. "I'm going to go back tomorrow to hand in my notice and that's it."

"What do you mean 'that's it'?" Kari asked. I shrugged.

"There's nothing keeping me there." I stated. "It's not like I liked the job that much anyway."

"Yeah but what about Tai?" she asked. I just raised an eyebrow at Davis. He just shrugged at me.

"Don't look at me, dude, I haven't said anything to her."

"He didn't have to say anything," Kari said. "it was kind of obvious."

"What do you mean?" I asked. I thought I had been pretty good at keeping the whole thing a secret (apart from the slip up with Mimi and Jun coming in to shout the odds at me). Kari sighed and shook her head.

"Oh my god you're so dense!" she said. "Tai is crazy about you and I know you're crazy about him too." That was new information.

"What?"

"For the last week Tai hasn't been able to stop talking about you." she said. "He's been berating himself because he thinks he's the reason that you disappeared of the face of the planet for a week."

"What?" I asked again. I was so confused, trying to process what she was telling me. Tai liked me. In the same way that I liked him? No that couldn't be true, could it?

"You and Tai kissed when you were at my party, right?" Kari said. Davis looked shocked.

"You never told me!" he said. I just shrugged at him. He grinned and gave me a thumbs up. "Dude, nice." he said quietly.

"Yeah we kissed but it was a drunken accident." I told Kari, half ignoring Davis. "Both of us agreed that that was all it was going to be."

"Yeah well Tai's an idiot and he only said that because he didn't know how you felt about him." Kari told me. "He hasn't been able to stop talking about you since you got the job there."

"This is insane!" It seemed almost too good to be true. The guy that I really liked was apparently crazy about me too and all I had to do was work up the balls to tell him and then I might actually have the chance to be happy for a change.

"So what are you going to do now?" Kari asked. "You can't just quit without saying anything to him."

"That I'm quitting?" I asked stupidly.

"No that you're into him!" Kari said. The 'you idiot' was implied in her tone. "You have to tell him before you quit and he thinks it's because of what happened with Jun and everything."

"Ok," I said realising that she was right. "I need to do this."

"Good." she replied.

"I need to do this now before I lose my nerve completely." I said.

"Good." she said again. "His flat is only a ten minute walk from here, five minutes if you run. Do you know where it is?"

"Yeah we walked back this way together when we finished at the same time." I said.

"Then get going!" she told me. This was such a bad idea and it could all go horribly wrong but at this point I really did have nothing to lose. I could go over to his, tell him how I feel and if he rejected me it didn't matter because I'd be quitting my job in the morning and wouldn't have to be around him and things be awkward if he did turn me down.

"Right," I nodded, my mind made up. "Wish me luck." I left my bags where they were and left the flat with a chorus of 'good luck' behind me from both Kari and Davis.

As soon as I stepped outside I instantly regretted not bringing anything heavier than the jacket I was wearing, as what had been a light drizzle when I got home was now pouring rain. I very quickly toyed with the notion of running back upstairs and getting a coat or umbrella but decided against it. If I went back upstairs now then I would lose my nerve completely. I took a deep breath and stepped out into the rain, breaking into a run.

The original plan had been to walk over to Tai's thinking about what I was going to say so that I didn't make a complete arse out of myself and trip over my words when I got there. Thanks to the rain that plan went out the window as it took less time for me to get there and the only things I could think about where not getting a stitch and how freakishly cold it was.

Finally I got to Tai's door. I stopped for a minute to catch my breath. (I need to do more exercise – that was not fun). Even though there was a bit of cover from the balcony of the flat above the rain was still hitting me, although I was already drenched so it really didn't matter. Once I had caught my breath again I rang the doorbell and waited. I really hope he's in, if I've just run all this way in the rain and he's not here I'm going to be so pissed.

I saw the light click on in the hallway and I knew I was in luck. I knew Tai lived by himself so at least I could take comfort in the fact that it was definitely him. He opened the door and stared in surprise as he saw me, dripping wet and still panting a little on his doorstep.

"Hi." I said. Smooth. Anything more eloquent would have been better but apparently words were against me at that moment in time. It didn't matter in the end as Tai didn't say anything. He stepped out into the rain, grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me into a searing kiss, one of his hands plunging into my hair while the other still clutched the front of my shirt.

I kissed him back with equal force, wrapping my arms around his neck and running my fingers through his hair. It was just like when we kissed at Kari's party but this time we were both stone cold sober. The feel of his lips against mine, being pressed up right against his chest and when he took my bottom lip in his teeth and gently bit down told me that this was a real. I could have stayed like that for hours but finally Tai pulled away.

"God I missed you." he whispered, pressing his forehead against mine.

"Missed you too." I replied before he kissed me again.

"You disappeared." he said.

"I'm sorry." I replied. It was a bit of a lame response but my reason for leaving was pretty lame so I was sticking to the theme. "I thought I'd fucked things up too much and it would be better if I just left for a while."

"I'm sorry." he said before kissing me again.

"What do you have to be sorry about?" I asked between kisses.

"I don't know," he shook his head. "it was just a weird situation."

"Yeah," I replied. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have anything to be sorry about." he said grinning at me. We seemed to be in an apologising loop. He kissed me again and the loop was broken. The hand that was in my hair gripped it tighter, prompting me to gently tug his ever so slightly. He groaned, the sound vibrating through his chest into mine. God I wanted to stay like this forever but the rain had completely soaked through my clothes, it was freezing cold and I could feel myself beginning to shiver. Tai seemed to notice this too. It was hard not to notice as I had soaked the front of his shirt too.

"Want to come inside?" he asked.

"Wait!" I said. I did. I really did but there was an implication behind his words and I needed to say what I had come here to say before I lost the chance. He looked quizzically at me. "I came over here because I wanted to tell you that I have feelings for you. I have for a while now and after everything that happened with Jun and Michael and Kari's party I thought it was time that I told you."

I waited. Waited for him to make some kind of comment. I figured that he wasn't going to kick me out considering that the first thing he had done was to kiss me. A grin spread over his face and he pulled me into another kiss. I was a bit too shocked to respond – I had been waiting for him to say something or give me some kind of answer. He pulled back.

"God I was hoping you'd say that!" he said. "I know I said that kiss at Kari's was a drunken accident but I thought that it would be easier if I pretended that it was nothing. I wanted to tell you that I'm crazy about you for so long now."

"Really?"

"Since I first started properly talking to you." he said. "When you first started working I just thought of you as Matt's little brother but then I got to know you and I just fell for you. I didn't mean for it to happen and I thought I should just ignore it because of work but I couldn't help it and then Kari's party happened. I just sort of took a chance."

"Good chance." I grinned. "When you kissed me that night it was like everything I had been thinking and dreaming about was coming true."

The two of us stood there, out in the rain, confessions hanging in the air just looking at each other. I was too nervous to do anything so I waited for him to make a move. He pushed a wet strand of my fringe out of my eyes.

"So," he said softly. "want to go inside now?"


	10. The Beginning Of Love

**So here it is - the last chapter! (Slightly cheesy title I know) Thank you so much for all of your support, reads, reviews and everything. I honestly did not expect this story to be as popular as it has been so thank you guys so much :3 I should probably go and write my dissertation now haha**

As soon as we were inside and the door was closed we were on each other. Tai pushed me up against the door, kissing me furiously. If I had thought there was passion behind the kisses we had shared outside I was so wrong. He had been holding back as we were out in public. Now that we were finally in private he took hold of my wrists and pushed them above my head, pinning me against the door. It was the hottest thing I had ever experienced.

The hand that wasn't pinning me to the door was in my hair, pulling gently and forcing my head back. I groaned softly and he took the opportunity to slip his tongue passed my open lips and massage it against mine. God the feeling of his lips, his body, just him against me felt so good. Finally everything that I had been fantasising about, dreaming about, spending endless nights thinking about (and what had been draining my concentration on particularly long days at work) was coming true in the best way possible.

He began trailing kisses from my jaw to my neck. I tried to catch my breath as he began sucking lightly on the join between my neck and shoulder. I could feel his erection pressing against me and I lightly thrust my hips up into it. He moaned against my skin and I desperately wanted to touch him. I wanted to feel his skin against mine but at the same time having him pinning me against his door was so fucking hot I was almost unable to believe it was true.

"God, I've wanted to do this for so long!" Tai groaned. "Want to take this to my room?"

"God yes." I panted. He let me off the door, slipped his hand in mine and led me through the flat until we reached his bedroom. He opened the door and we stood there for a moment just looking at each other. Butterflies were practically swarming in my stomach but I managed to keep my cool on the outside. He turned to me and slipped his hand round my neck to softly cup the back on my head. He tilted my chip up slightly and kissed me very softly.

I reached up and clutched the front of his shirt, pulling him closer. I needed something to hold on to, to ground me to reality, as it still felt too much like a dream that would end at any second. He softly pushed me against the door frame and pressed himself against me. I was getting harder by the minute and I knew that I needed to feel skin on skin as soon as possible or I was going to go crazy.

Deciding that this need to be moving faster so I trailed one of my hands down his shirt to the hem of it and began to pull it upwards as we kissed. He seemed to agree with the direction I was taking this in and pulled back slightly so that I could pull his shirt over his head and off. While our lips weren't attached he took the opportunity to pull my soaking wet shirt off. The absence of the wet clothing was nice but my skin was still wet and I instantly felt cold.

I didn't feel cold for long as pretty much as soon as he had my shirt off Tai pressed me back up against the door frame. As soon as our chests pressed against each other I was instantly warm and the feeling of his skin against mine just felt so good. Finally those muscles that I had seen in pictures were there and I could run my fingers over them, which I took full advantage of. I explored his chest, ghosting my fingertips over his skin. I smirked when he pulled away and let out a heated moan.

"Fuck!" he breathed as he arched into my touch, pressing me harder into the door frame.

"Cold hands?" I asked innocently as if that was the problem here. I moved one round to his back and began running my fingertips up his spine. He bit his lip but he couldn't stifle the groan that vibrated through his chest.

"A little." he panted – again, as if that was the problem here. "I can think of a few ways we can warm them up though." He slipped two of his fingers into each of the front loops on my jeans and pulled me over to his bed. He turned me so that I was walking backwards and eventually the back of my knees hit the edge of his bed. I looked over my shoulder out of instinct and as I did Tai took the opportunity to push me down so that I was sitting on the edge of his mattress looking up at him.

He ran a hand through my still dripping hair and smirked as he ran his thumb over my bottom lip. I leaned into his touch and a breathy groan escaped my lips. God it felt good when he touched me! Even if this wasn't about to lead where I knew it was going to still the feeling of his skin against mine was amazing.

He tilted my chin upwards and leaned down to kiss me once more, as he did I slipped my hands up his thighs and began to undo the buttons on his trousers. Once I had them open I slipped my hand inside his boxers and rubbed his hard cock. The effect was instantaneous. Tai groaned into my lips and jerked his hips, pushing his cock into my grasp. I smirked to myself, against his lips, and continued to rub him drawing more and more heated groans from his lips.

Finally he seemed to have had enough of my teasing and he took hold of my wrist, pulled my hand out of his boxers and pushed me down so that he was pinning me against the mattress. He was breathing heavily and his face was slightly flushed; I was definitely having the desired effect on him.

"Too much?" I asked feigning innocence. Now that he had confessed that he was crazy about me too I felt confident enough to be this bold and this forward. I wouldn't be in his bedroom, in his bed, half naked with his hard cock pressing against mine, if he didn't at least find me halfway attractive. He smirked down at me before kissing me fiercely.

"Tempting little tease." he chuckled once he pulled away. "Am I going to have to tie you up?"

"Hope so." I grinned. He signed contentedly, letting his head fall forward before looking up at me again, grinning like he had just won the lottery the entire time.

"Do you have any idea what you do to me?" he asked. I smirked and rolled my hips up against his earning another deep groan.

"I think I've got a pretty good idea." I said. Tai didn't really respond to that so much as he smashed our lips together, delving his tongue into my mouth to massage it against mine. He propped himself up with one hand while the other slipped down the length of my body, fingertips trailing teasingly over my skin until he reached the hem of my jeans. With extreme dexterity he undid the buttons one handed.

His lips moved away from mine and he began to trail hot, open-mouthed kisses in a path down my jaw to my neck and to my chest. He stopped, briefly, to graze his teeth over my collarbone and one of my nipples, teasing it into a hardened peak before blowing cold air against it. I let out a soft moan and arched into him, wanting to feel his lips on my skin again.

The trail of kissed carried on down the entire length of my body until they also reached the hem of my jeans. I looked down and he smirked up at me as he took my zipper in his teeth and began to slowly drag it down. I could feel his hot breath against my cock through my boxers and the soft moans were falling hard and fast from my lips now. With his head dangerously close to my cock he hooked his fingers inside both my jeans and boxers and began to slip them down and off.

When he finally had them off (which was made a little more difficult on account of the fact that my jeans were still wet and kind of stuck to me and that I had to kick my shoes off) I lay naked before him. His eyes never left my body as he reached out and began to run his hands over me; up my thighs, chest, into my hair and back down again as if he was trying to map out my entire body by touch alone. He leant down, kissing along my chest till he reached my hips before engulfing my cock with his mouth.

A strangled cry escaped my lips and I made to thrust my hips upwards, reacting on instinct, but Tai pinned them to the mattress. His tongue traced the length of it before swirling around the head. One of my hands clutched at the sheets beneath me while the other went to clutch my hair, desperately trying to ground myself. I didn't want to come, not yet, but the way Tai was swirling his tongue around my cock before taking it deep into his throat and swallowing around it want getting me pretty fucking close.

My breathing was getting faster, my hips were fighting against his hold on them and I could feel a light sheen of sweat beginning to form on my skin. Tai seemed to be able to tell that I was close as, after giving me a particularly hard suck, he pulled away. I just about managed to open my eyes and looked up to see him smirking down at me. He leaned down to whisper in my ear.

"I'm not done with you yet." he said before taking my earlobe between his teeth and giving it a gentle bite. I groaned (louder than I would have liked to from such a simple gesture) and rolled my hips up against his. I could feel how hard he was through the denim of his jeans and I desperately wanted them off.

As if reading my mind Tai stood up, hooked his fingers in his jeans and boxers and rid himself of both of them. I propped myself up on my elbows so that I could watch, never taking my eyes off him. Once his clothes were passed his hips his cock sprang free, swollen and turgid. I bit my lip as the thought crossed my mind that that was going to be inside me before the night was out. I shivered slightly with anticipation. Tai grinned when he saw me looking.

Once he was out of his clothes he took my face in his hands and kissed me. It was slow, hot and laced with passion. I reached up to take hold of his wrists as he pushed me back down into the mattress. Every time he shifted slightly I could feel his cock rubbing against mine and it sent jolt after jolt of pleasure coursing through me and making me moan into his mouth.

Tai eventually pulled away and reached over to the bottom draw of his bedside table. He rummaged around for a bit before pulling out a small square condom packet and a bottle of lube. He tossed them onto the bed next to me before going back to briefly running his hands over me again. Everywhere he touched tingled as his hands left hot trails on fire and I was beginning to lose it. Anymore of this and I would be begging him to fuck me.

"Tai…" I let out a breathy moan, my eyes practically screwed shut, as he traced a fingertip over my hips causing me to buck into his touch. "please…" It was all I could manage but it seemed to serve its purpose as I heard Tai chuckle softly before his hands left me and I heard the unmistakeable sound of the cap of the lube being popped open. I managed to open my eyes as he squirted some of the slick gel into his palm and began coating his fingers in it. He slowly trailed a slick finger over my cock and downwards until he reached my entrance. He looked up at me and locked eyes with mine.

"Are you ready for this?" he asked. My last chance to back out if I wanted to take it. I didn't want to take it. I wanted this to happen. I had been dreaming about this for too long to back out now.

"God yes." I nodded and he sank the finger that had been teasing my entrance the entire time into me.

I bit my lip to stop myself from crying out loud as I felt him inside me. He began to slowly thrust his finger in and out of me until I removed my teeth from my bottom lip when he began to pick up the pace. After a little while he added a second finger and as he thrust them into me he began to scissor them, preparing me for his cock. As the moans began to fall faster from my lips and get louder at the same time Tai pulled his fingers out of me.

A small whimper of protest escaped my lips as he left but I knew that something bigger and better was about to come. I watched, never taking my eyes off him as he tore the condom packet open with his teeth and began to slide the latex over his length. He then popped the cap on the lube again, squirted more into his palm and coated himself in it. I watched him stroke himself and I knew that he was putting on a show for me. I was tingling with anticipation and I desperately wanted him inside me as soon as possible.

He positioned himself between my legs and at my entrance. I could feel the heat radiating off him as he leaned down to kiss me once more. I wound my arms around his neck and sunk my fingers into his hair. Chest to chest I could feel every curve and contour of him rubbing against me. He pulled away slightly and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

"You ready?" he asked. A gentleman right up to the end he was giving me one final chance to back out. I pulled him down into another gentle kiss.

"I'm all yours." I whispered against his lips before kissing him again, this time slightly harder.

As we kissed he sunk into me, both of us moaning into each other's mouths at the feeling. God just feeling him inside me was amazing. I clutched onto his shoulders as I adjusted to his size. He waited patiently, breathing heavily to steady himself, until I rolled my hips up into his. He then pulled out of me and began to plunge back in at a furious pace.

The air became thick and heavy with passion and the only sounds were our moans, panting and the slight creak in the mattress. I clung tighter to his shoulders as a particularly harsh thrust slammed against my prostate, making me arch off the mattress and against him. He reached down with his still lube covered hand and began to pump my cock in time with his thrusts. I could feel him throbbing inside me and judging by the fact that his thrusts were getting more and more irregular I could tell that he was close.

"Cum with me." he panted.

"God yes!" I replied. The assault on both my cock and my prostate was too much for me and, before I knew what was happening, I was coming hard coating both of our stomachs. My muscles clenched around him to almost vice-like grips and he shuddered before cuming, filling the condom inside me. He continued to thrust until we had both ridden out our orgasms to the fullest then, on slightly shaking arms, he pulled out of me and collapsed onto the bed next to me.

We lay there trying to catch our breath back, the only sound in the room being our heavy breathing. I turned to look over at him, even after everything there was a part of me that was still unconvinced that this was actually real and I did just have sex with Tai. He smiled at me and reached over to brush my sweaty fringe out of my eyes. I took hold of his wrist as he did and he leaned over and kissed me softly.

"That was amazing." he whispered.

"Yeah." I replied. Tai sighed before heaving himself into a sitting position and beginning to clean himself off. He handed me a tissue and I did the same before depositing it into the bin next to his bed. Once we were both done he kissed me again but he looked conflicted.

"I want you." he told me as he gently ran his fingers through my hair. "I want to be with you but I don't know how we're going to be able to do this professionally. I mean people at work gossip enough and I don't want Jun to come back in and go crazy on you just because you and I are together. Does that make sense?"

"It does," I replied. Now was a good time to tell him the other thing I came here to tell him. "I don't think it's going to be that much of a problem though."

"Why not?" he asked.

"Well I got offered another job." I told him. "As a professional photographer for Matt's band."

"What?"

"They aren't going to be touring at the moment because Matt's girlfriend is pregnant so I won't be running off anywhere but I took the job and was planning on handing in my notice tomorrow." I said. Tai stared at me for a moment as he processed what I had just told him.

"So you're not going to work there any more?" he asked.

"Nope."

"And you're not going to be running off again?"

"Not without warning." I said. "I might end up going on tours with them when they start touring again but I'll get notice and, for now, I'll be staying here." Tai didn't say anything he just leaned over and kissed me. It was soft, sweet and I didn't want it to end but eventually he pulled back and grinned at me.

"So we can…?" He didn't have to finish the sentence I already knew what he was going to say.

"If you want to." I smiled back at him.

"Very much so."

"Good." I said before leaning in and kissing him again.


End file.
